THE BIG CANOE

sledge stopped, people came running from the
houses—short, fat little people with kind eyes and
smiling faces, who carried me into one of the small
smoky dwellings, warmed me and fed me, and let
me sleep for many hours.

Here among these kindly, jolly people I lived
happily all through the long Northern night, treated
always like an honored guest. Loo, the fat one who
had found me on the ice, became my faithful friend
and spent many hours teaching me his language. Be-
fore long, I was able to tell him of my search and
could ask him about the Ancient Ones, hoping that my
wanderings would soon be over. But my new friends
had never heard of the Ancient Ones, nor had they
ever seen the ice cave described by the seal.

“We will go in search of them when the long night
ends,” Loo declared, as eager as I to find the un-
known animals. “We will take our dogs and go to
all the villages, asking all the people in the Northland
about the Ancient Ones. If they are here, we shall
find them, without a doubt.”

You may think it strange, but we did not greatly
mind the long gloomy night. Inside the houses all
were gay and cheerful at their tasks, making har-
nesses for the dogs, working on skins, carving bone
or ivory, sewing the beautiful fur garments that
were worn by all the tribe. There were many games
and songs, long hours of story-telling, and much danc-